Team Incentive Could Sabotage Company Goals

Diversity is the rule today when it comes to team incentive systems. Corning, for example, has over 50 different gain-sharing plans. One company in the auto industry even has different pay systems for each of its 13 transmission-building lines. However, according to Marc C. Wallace Jr., founding partner of the Center for Workforce Effectiveness, Northbrook, Ill., "There is a lot of concern with putting together pay systems for teams." The reason: teams tend to work to "maximize their own rewards" often at the expense of a "plant's overall performance." His advice for team incentives is to define the goal and then set the measurement, including everyone who 'touches' any part of the process in the team. This practice enables you to identify the team by actually seeing who is involved and what processes are implemented, notes Wallace.